35. The Pride of Heaven (Part Seven)

He must be sick!

"What do you mean?" Xi Qi lost his previous composure and stopped calling her "senior brother" and "junior sister" so affectionately. He grabbed her wrist.

Ran Qinghe disgustedly shook off his hand, but she was no longer as aggressive as before. Instead, she slowly poured herself a cup of tea and toasted it from afar as if it were wine.

She sipped her tea, her eyes crinkling into a smile. "Did I forget to tell my senior brother that the swallow that just flew away wasn't an ordinary swallow, but a 'recording swallow' from the Discipline Hall?"

Ran Qinghe stopped there, but Xi Qi's face darkened because he knew that Liu Yingyan's eyes could not only record their every word and action, but also project it.

Now that the five sects of the realm have gathered here, all the disciples of the sects will know that in order to prevent Ran Qinghe from entering Yunya Academy, he did not hesitate to frame her. They will also know that Qingxiao mistreats his disciples and abuses his cultivators.

No one would doubt the authenticity of the record of the Flying Swallow's Eye, because it is a symbol of the Discipline Hall, which represents justice.

No wonder she went around in circles with him and tried to trick him in every way; it turned out she had this purpose all along.

"What are your conditions?" Xi Qi regained his composure. Since he had come to her, he must have some ulterior motive. "You recall Liu Yingyan, and I will do my best to fulfill your request."

Ran Qinghe: "Hmm?"

She hadn't really thought about the conditions, but Xi Qi's words reminded her.

She feigned hesitation until his patience was about to run out, then casually said:

"Then why don't you just burn all the talismans I drew?" She didn't want to leave Qingxiao a single thing. "What if you use the same trick again later? Wouldn't I be at a huge loss?"

Xi Qi maintained his smile, saying, "Don't worry, there won't be a next time." With that, he took out all the talismans from his storage bag and burned them all.

"Are you satisfied with this?"

She then feigned distress and said, "But others also have talismans drawn by me. Zhao Gan is an example of that."

Xi Qi said, "No, I'm the only one who has your talisman. As for Zhao Gan, I only gave him that one talisman." He spoke frankly and readily admitted that he was the one who orchestrated Zhao Gan's sneak attack.

She restrained herself from attacking again, and then, after a moment's thought, continued to nag, "Alright, then you can start cursing Xi Shu, the more offensive the better."

"Any more conditions?" She always managed to easily make him lose his composure.

Xi Qi knew that after her ordeal in the Tower Prison, her temperament had become even more unpredictable. Before, when they were in Qingxiao, they could at least have a calm and gentle conversation, but now they were at odds with each other at every turn.

Ran Qinghe raised her eyebrows: "Yes, the last one."

His eyes darkened with anger as he said, "You know I would never do something that violates the principles of being a teacher."

She helplessly spread her hands: "Well... there's nothing I can do about it."

He suppressed his anger, his eyes were cold, and he took off the storage ring on his index finger: "Inside the ring are all kinds of rare medicinal materials and spirit stones obtained from missions that I have accumulated during my training. There are tens of thousands of high-grade spirit stones alone."

"Are you satisfied? If so, recall Feiyan, and I will not interfere with you in the slightest."

She glanced at him sideways, a faint smile playing on her lips. What, did she look so poor? Why were they all throwing magical artifacts and treasures at her?

But how could she refuse spirit stones offered to her? She took the storage ring from his hand, admired it for a moment, and then carefully put it away.

Then, feigning alarm, he slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "Oh dear!"

Xi Qi's forehead veins throbbed: "So what?"

She smiled apologetically: "I only learned the incantation for releasing the swallows from Lou Tinglan. I haven't learned the incantation for recalling the swallows yet."

She released her spiritual power to sense the situation and hissed, "By now, Fei Yan has probably already flown to Qianya Hall. If Senior Brother is fast enough, he should still be able to catch up."

At this moment, Xi Qi no longer cared whether Ran Qinghe was playing tricks on him and immediately flew away to chase after Fei Yan.

However, by the time he arrived at Qianya Hall, he was clearly a step too late. The topic of conversation had shifted from Ran Qinghe's destruction of the spiritual vein that morning to how Qingxiao was abusing the disciples, and the crowd was in an uproar.

"No wonder they forced their disciple to destroy his spiritual veins. The number one sect in the realm would actually do something like this, sending a Golden Core disciple to the Ghostly Miasma!"

"Who can argue with that? Luckily, I didn't enter Qingxiao back then."

One of the Qingxiao disciples who had infiltrated the group retorted, "Are you not joining Qingxiao because you don't want to? Look carefully, this is just Elder Xi Shu's personal behavior. What does it have to do with the Qingxiao sect?"

"That's true. There are all sorts of birds in a big forest. Look at the entrance, isn't that the Qingxiao disciple in the photo?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, it's true. If I were him, I probably wouldn't even have the face to participate in the academy selection."

Upon seeing Xi Qi appear, the focus of everyone's criticism quickly shifted.

The situation had spiraled out of control, and no matter how furious he was, it was useless; he could only turn and leave.

*

Having gotten rid of a major trouble and gained so many spirit stones, Ran Qinghe couldn't help but hum a folk tune from the mortal realm as she returned to her courtyard.

No sooner had they entered than a person suddenly appeared in the courtyard.

“Ming… Junior Brother,” she couldn’t remember his name, but calling him Junior Brother was never too much to ask.

Mingyu smiled and replied, "Junior Sister Ran." The two continued their conversation without disturbing each other.

She asked bluntly, "What are you doing here?" What, is her courtyard some kind of auspicious place on Snowfall Peak, where everyone has to come and visit?

Mingyu waved her folding fan and replied in a very good mood, "Naturally, I'm here to take care of your injury on behalf of someone."

And this "someone" can only be Lou Tinglan.

He continued to soothe Lou Tinglan's feelings: "Oh dear, even when you're confined, you still can't stop. Feiyan sent me three letters in a row, insisting that I see your injury with my own eyes."

"I can tell from this that the injury on the face is indeed serious. If it's not treated quickly, it will heal completely."

Ran Qinghe: ...

She rolled her eyes at Mingyu, went straight into the inner room, and began to take stock of the spirit stones in her storage ring.

Mingyu was nearly speechless with shock: "You went and robbed them?" Otherwise, he really couldn't figure out where such a huge amount of spirit stones came from.

She touched the spirit stone with her fingertips. As expected of a high-grade spirit stone, it was so clean that there wasn't a single impurity. Perfect, she could use it to expel the resentment in her body.

In high spirits, she replied, "This is the compensation I deserve. You've seen it all, so why aren't you leaving?"

Seeing that she kept telling him to leave, Mingyu tossed out another storage ring in an annoyed tone: "Someone asked me to give this to you, saying you can do whatever you want with it, and use it if you need it."

"Alright, I've brought the things, I'm leaving now."

However, before leaving, he kept turning back, seemingly curious about the contents of the storage ring.

Seeing that he kept turning back to look at her, Ran Qinghe simply satisfied his curiosity and poured out everything from her storage ring.

But neither of them expected that the number of spirit stones inside the ring alone was ten times that of Xi Qi, almost enough to submerge half the room.

Besides these, there were countless elixirs and magical artifacts.

Mingyu was shocked. She picked up one of the carved mahogany boxes, opened it, and exclaimed, "He actually has ten Blood Spirit Flowers! I asked him for some before, and he stingily only gave me one. How come you have them..."

"And there's also the Qi-Strengthening Pill, the Mist Spirit Grass..."

Ran Qinghe was even more astonished. She must have been wrong before. This must be Lou Tinglan's true wealth.

However, she didn't look closely, calmly took all the items out of the ring, and tossed the ring back into Mingyu's hand.

Give it back to him.

He had previously said that she didn't want to owe anyone anything, but in her opinion, he was the one who wouldn't owe even the slightest bit.

She only took responsibility for him once, why doesn't he just give her the Disciplinary Hall as well?

Seeing that she refused, Mingyu said happily, "Then I'll take a Blood Spirit Flower as payment. That's not too much to ask, is it?"

The Blood Spirit Flower originates from the Crimson Maple Sect in the far south. It blooms only once every few decades, but its bloom lasts for a single day. When its petals are applied to a wound, they can quickly stop the leakage of spiritual energy or the continuous bleeding, making it extremely precious.

"Wait, give me one of the Blood Spirit Flowers." Ran Qinghe called out to Mingyu again.

Since he wants to return the relationship cleanly, a Blood Spirit Flower is enough.

She thought that the relationship between them, where you give me back and I give you back, should end there.

But after she returned the storage ring, Lou Tinglan sent Feiyan with something every other day. After only three days, she became annoyed and went to him for help.

Lou Tinglan was still under house arrest, and the two could only communicate with each other through a barrier.

She threatened inwardly, "If you let that damned swallow knock on my window again, I'll pluck all its feathers, roast it, and eat it."

Lou Tinglan chuckled softly and said, "Okay."

Ran Qinghe rarely heard him laugh. Although there was a barrier between them, she still felt her face getting hot for some reason. She hurriedly covered it up by saying, "What do you mean? Do you want me to roast it?"

Lou Tinglan explained earnestly, "Since you refused to accept the storage ring, I could only pick out a few pills that would help your injuries and have Feiyan give them to you."

Ran Qinghe said, "What, didn't Mingyu tell you that my superficial wound would have healed if I hadn't treated it earlier?"

Lou Tinglan chuckled again: "He didn't tell me that. He said that since you've already accepted Xi Qi's storage ring, you don't want mine anymore."

"Speaking of which, I was a step too late."

She couldn't help but frown. What did he mean by "arriving a step late"? Lou Tinglan's words were becoming increasingly strange. No, it should be said that today he exuded a sense of incongruity.

Could it be that his mind has been corrupted by resentment, or that he has been possessed by a vengeful spirit?

Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, he changed the subject again: "It's alright. What I'm talking about isn't just some superficial injury, but the resentment inside you."

She feigned ignorance: "What resentment? I haven't fought with any vengeful spirits, so where would any resentment come from?"

Lou Tinglan said, "You can't hide it from me. Exorcising resentment is not something that can be done in a short time. At that time, I was controlled by resentment. If someone hadn't guided the resentment out, how could I have woken up?"

"So, did you channel your resentment into your own body?"

Ran Qinghe paused for only a moment before he instantly understood.

"That's why I've been worried and uneasy these days, which is why I've sent Feiyan out time and time again. Even if you impatiently chase it away, it at least proves that you're alright for now."

"Lou Tinglan, you are really strange."

She didn't say anything more, just left those words behind, and then turned and left.

She really couldn't understand this person. He was making no attempt to hide his worry right now, but in the blink of an eye, he could treat her with icy indifference.

Therefore, she came to a conclusion.

He must be sick.